The Onyx Hotel Tour
'''The Onyx Hotel Tour was the fourth concert tour by American recording artist Britney Spears. It supported her fourth studio album In The Zone (2003) and visited North America and Europe. A tour to promote the album was announced in December 2003. Its original name was the In the Zone Tour, but Spears was sued for trademark infringement and banned from using the name. Spears felt inspired to create a show with a hotel theme which she later mixed with the concept of an onyx stone. The stage, inspired by Broadway musicals, was less elaborate than her previous tours. The setlist was composed mostly by songs from In the Zone as well as some of her past songs reworked with different elements of jazz, blues and Latin percussion. Tour promoter Clear Channel Entertainment marketed the tour to a more adult audience than her previous shows while sponsor MTV highly promoted the tour on TV shows and the network's website.' The tour was divided into seven segments: ''Check-In, Mystic Lounge, Mystic Garden, The Onyx Zone, Security Cameras, Club and the encore. Check-In displayed performances with dance and advanced in the hotel theme. Mystic Lounge featured an homage to Cabaret and other musicals, while remixing some of Spears' early hits. Mystic Garden displayed a jungle-inspired stage. The Onyx Zone displayed a ballad performance with acrobats. Security Cameras was the raciest part of the show, with Spears and her dancers emulating different sexual practices. Club displayed a performance with urban influences. The encore consisted of a system malfunction interlude and Spears performed wearing a red ensemble. The tour received mixed reviews from contemporary critics, who praised it for being an entertaining show while criticizing it for looking "more like a spectacle than an actual concert". The Onyx Hotel Tour was commercially successful, grossing $34 million. On March 18, 2004, Spears suffered a knee injury onstage while performing "I Got That (Boom Boom)" and was forced her to reschedule two shows. On June 8, 2004, Spears fell and hurt her knee again while shooting the music video for "Outrageous" and underwent arthroscopic surgery. Since Spears thought that continuing with the tour wouldn't be good for her recovery, the third leg in North America and the fourth leg in Asia and Australia were cancelled. In 2005, Spears sued her insurance companies for denying her a reimbursement for the cancellation. Showtime broadcast live the March 28, 2004 show at the American Airlines Arena, in an special titled Britney Spears Live From Miami. Backstage footage was included in the reality show Britney & Kevin: Chaotic. Background On December 2, 2003, Spears announced through her official website US concerts to support her fourth studio album, In The Zone (2003). The tour would kick off on March 2 in San Diego, California, at iPayOne Center. However, Spears released a statement saying, "I'm especially looking forward to bringing my tour to new markets and performing in front of fans that may not have had the opportunity to see any of my previous tours."[1] On January 12, 2004, four dates were announced in Glasgow, Manchester, London and Birmingham, her first UK dates in four years.[2] After the beginning of the North American leg, Spears announced a summer leg in the United States in June as well as a European leg starting on April 27 in London and ending on June 5 at Rock in Rio Lisboa.[3] It was also rumored to visit Latin America and Asia later in the year.[4] The Onyx Hotel Tour was originally going to be called In the Zone Tour. On February 17, 2004, a San Diego clothing manufacturer of the same name sued Spears for $10 million and banned her from using the trademark.[5] On May 17, 2004, a hotel named Onyx Hotel opened in Boston, Massachusetts.[6] Kimpton Hotels & Restaurant Group had come up with the name two years before the tour was developed. Spears and the Kimpton group decided to promote the hotel by featuring a room named The Britney Spears Foundation Room. It was designed by Spears' mother, Lynne, reflecting Spears' personality and taste. The room opened six weeks later and a portion of the fee was destined to the Britney Spears Foundation. Concert synopsis The show began with a skit where a flamboyant master of ceremonies welcomed spectators to the Onyx Hotel.[11] After this, he took an onyx and threw into the video screens, causing a virtual chandelier to fall into the floor.[9] Spears briefly appeared in the screens, as her dancers descended to the stage. She entered standing on top of a small bus dressed in a black catsuit, where she performed "Toxic".[11] She descended to the stage for the breakdown and then performed "Overprotected". She took a break to talk to the audience, before going into performing "Shadow" at The Onyx Hotel Tour.]]"Boys", which featured the male dancers pushing her while she was standing in luggage carts.[11] "Showdown" featured rainbow-colored lighting effects and was the last song of the first act.[11] A video interlude followed featuring Spears and her friends outside a club. While she was leaving, she noticed a woman dressed in 1930s fashion. She followed her and the woman asked Spears to enter the "Mystic Lounge". Spears reappeared wearing a corset to perform "...Baby One More Time".[11] She performed Oops!.. I Did It Again" with a vintage microphone and joined by her background singers.[11] Spears and her dancers performed "(You Drive Me) Crazy", which contained elements of latin percussion.[14] After this, she talked to the audience and usually referenced her wedding with childhood friend Jason Alexander. She also introduced her band before leaving the stage. There was a video interlude of Spears were a flower-themed dress and entering the "Mystic Garden". After the video ended, she appeared onstage sitting at a leaf-covered piano. She talked to the audience before performing "Everytime". Her dancers joined her to perform "The Hook Up" and a jungle-inspired mix of "I'm a Slave 4 U". The show continued with another video interlude featuring a spoof of paranormal-themed shows, "The Onyx Zone", with the master of ceremonies doing a Rod Serling impression and introducing "The Shadow Room". Spears then reappeared sitting on a swing to perform "Shadow". During the performance, she was lifted into the above an M-shaped blue ribbon with performers twirling in the fabric. THer performance ended with Spears leaving the stage while her dancers perform to a ballet interlude in flesh-colored costumes. The next section began with a video interlude of two guards watching Spears in her room through security cameras. Spears then appeared on a smaller stage wearing a white rob and performed "Touch of My Hand" in a transparanet bathtub. During the performance, she removed the robe to reveal a nude body suit with crystals that resembled her "Toxic" music video otufit. She left the stage briefly to wardrobe change and reappeared on the mini platform where she descended to the main stage on a pole, wearing pink lingerie and performed "Breathe On Me" on a bed with one of her male dancers. She then put on a white trenchcoat and performed "Outrageous", the last song of the act. In the next act, Spears and her dancers wore street clothes and performed "(I Got That) Boom Boom". After this, she introduced her band and dancers and left the stage. The encore began with a system malfunction where a female voice counted down as the screens sketched Spears' outline, which then rose to reveal Spears at the top of the staircase. After this, "Me Against the Music" (Rishi RIch's Desi Kulcha Remix) began and Spears appeared onstage wearing a red ensemble. The show ended with Spears and her dancers on the staircase where the screen is lowered and Spears made her exit as confetti was shot towards the audience. Setlist #"Check-In" (Performance Introduction) #"Toxic" #"Overprotected" (The Darkchild Remix) #"Boys" (The Co-Ed Remix) #"Showdown" #"Mystic Lounge" (Video Interlude) #"...Baby One More Time" #"Oops!... I Did It Again" #"(You Drive Me) Crazy" #"Mystic Garden" (Video Interlude) #"Everytime" #"The Hook Up" #"I'm A Slave 4 U" #"The Onyx Zone" (Video Interlude) #"Shadow" #"Security Cameras" (Video Interlude) #"Touch of My Hand" #"Breathe on Me" #"Outrageous" #"Club" (Performance Interlude) #"(I Got That) Boom Boom" #"Check-Out" (Video Interlude) # "Me Against the Music" (Rishi Rich's Desi Kulcha Remix) Category:Concert tours